Commission's preliminary Digital Services Act finding on Meta calls out addictive design
Meta’s use of addictive design features on its social networks Instagram and Facebook violates the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission said in a preliminary finding on Friday.
The EU’s executive has been investigating child safety concerns on Meta’s platforms since May 2024. On Friday it delivered its initial findings – saying the US tech giant had failed to apply robust safeguards to protect users’ mental and physical well-being, including teens.
The Commission particularly called out Meta’s use of addictive features – such as highly personalised content recommender systems, infinite scroll, autoplay and push notifications – which it found could lead to users racking up excessive screen time.
Meta’s engagement-focused design choices encourage users to keep scrolling – creating an unhealthy environment by shifting “the brain into autopilot mode”, the Commission said.
